Guru Nanak gives us the wisdom of this final pauree by using the metaphor of the goldsmith’s forge. The furnace of a goldsmith must have an even and controlled temperature and the goldsmith himself must have patience to work with the gold to form it into beautiful shapes. So should be the self-control and internal discipline of the seeker.

Guru Nanak says to make fear of God the bellows that stoke the inner fire. “Fear of God” is frequently misunderstood here, perhaps invoking a Biblical image of terrified sinners in the hands of an angry God. That is not what Guru Nanak means. Fear of God means the awe and longing for God. Siri Singh Sahib Ji was asked to explain this, to which he replied that fear of God means fear that you will not see God. Or the fear that you won’t remember God with each breath.

So with each breath, remember the One who gave the breath to you and apply that tapa, the heat, to the japa, the meditation, and fan the flame of the tap tao, the inner spiritual heat that builds with deep meditation. And there in your heart, in the crucible of love, let the nectar of Naam, the most precious gold, melt to its ultimate state of purity. Let that Amrit Nectar, which comes by reciting the Naam with love and devotion, trickle down. He is telling us that by reciting, the pineal gland will secrete. When it secretes, the consciousness expands. It is a process of purification, of removing negativity from the mind so that, free of doubt and fear, we can merge with the One.